Operating System and Environment Access

Operating system commands can be executed from within PV-WAVE without quitting the current PV-WAVE session.

To execute a single operating system command from PV-WAVE, enter the dollar sign ($) followed by the desired operating system command.

Operating System Commands

For example, to see a listing of files in the current directory (under UNIX), at the WAVE> prompt, type:

$ ls

The files in your current directory are displayed. In Windows, type $ dir.

To enter multiple operating system commands and temporarily suspend PV-WAVE, type:

SPAWN

The operating system prompt appears.

Now you can enter operating system commands just as you normally would.

To exit the operating system and return to PV-WAVE, at the operating system prompt, enter (for UNIX and Windows machines):

exit

Table 3-7: OS and Environment Access Commands lists some common OS and environment access commands that you may find useful when using PV‑WAVE.

OS and Environment Access Commands
Command	Description
$	By itself from the WAVE> prompt, spawns a child process to the operating system prompt. If followed by an operating system command, executes it then immediately returns to WAVE> prompt. Not for use in programs.
SPAWN	Spawns a child process to execute commands. Output generated by commands can be captured in a PV-WAVE variable. Can be used in programs (unlike $).
GETENV	Get value of an environment variable.
SETENV	Set value of an environment variable.
ENVIRONMENT	Returns a string array containing all the environment strings for the PV-WAVE process. (UNIX/Windows)
CD	Change current directory.
PUSHD	Push directory to top of LIFO directory stack.
POPD	Pop directory from top of LIFO directory stack.
PRINTD	List all directories in LIFO (Last-In-First-Out) directory stack, and current directory.
PWD	Prints the working directory.